Mar 9, 2018

The TZ P3 is a 2.4GHz Air mouse that stands out in a already very crowded space...

A good air mouse dramatically improves the user experience with any TV box or dongle.

I've been a big fan of the MX3 Air Mouse and its back-lit variant in particular for quite some time now and was about to buy a third one recently when I came across the TZ P3 Air Mouse, which at first just looks like a smaller equivalent.

Other advantages of TZ-P3 over the MX3

In addition to its compact size, the TZ-P3 has some other interesting differences:

A rechargeable 300mAh lithium-ion battery, type BL-5B
Easy to recharge via the micro USB connector and spares are cheap and very easy to find (commonly used in feature phones).

A dedicated ON/OFF switch.

One of my MX3 remote tends to turn on for no reason, draining the batteries completely before next use, so I found that a physical ON/OFF was a nice addition.

Larger and more responsive keyboardDespite the smaller size, the alphanumeric keyboard offers the same quantity of keys and they are larger! They also respond better and definitely allow for faster typing.

All TV remote keys can be assigned

This remote can learn from an original TV remote (see method below) and all the keys can be programmed.

Brighter back light

While it is not such an important factor (the MX3-L was bright enough), the P3 is brighter.

A multi-color back light with choice between Red Green and Blue.Another trivial factor but a nice touch: 3 colors to choose from... and a 4th "Christmas tree" mode like below, for demo purpose I guess.

Any bad stuff?

Less keys on the Remote side

While the alpha-numeric keyboard side is complete and larger, the remote control side has a few keys less than the MX3. Some will miss the absence of the 4-color keys. I personally regret the removal of fast forward and rewind a little.

There's also no word on how to re-calibrate the gyroscope if the pointer starts drifting.
I didn't have that problem with the two TZ-P3 remotes I purchased, but I presume it's done with a long press on the Mouse Lock button, or maybe OK+Back, while leaving the remote on a flat surface.

Conclusion

The TZ P3 Air Mouseis my TV Boxes new best friend for all the 7 reasons above.
Its price varies from 10€ to 16€ on eBay but for 8.33€ (10$), Gearbest has currently the best deal on the market. One more good reason to try it!